Weasley's Wizard Wonderings
by MoriToxyn
Summary: Fred wakes up to an old friend and it causes him to come face to face with his own feelings. This story takes place immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts and is a Fremione fic. It should fit pretty much into the original story, if it doesn't then let me know.
1. Chapter One

_**[Disclaimer, I do not own anything, it all belongs to J.K Rowling]**_

 **Chapter one**

Fred came to cautiously, bracing himself for the pain he was sure to feel across his whole body. The last thing he remembered was the impact of that wall, like a quick soft thud only with about the strength of a hundred hippogriffs. Curiously, even though now fully conscious he couldn't feel a hint of pain anywhere on his body. He wasn't even sure he could feel his body, it seemed a little detached from his head. He remembered back to something his dad had said when he was in hospital two years previous, something about how if Arthur was in too much pain they could charm him so he wouldn't feel anything at all. His father had declined multiple times with half a smile so that his wife didn't worry about the scale of it but Fred had known his pain must have been worse than he let on.

He tried to focus on his toes to no avail and decided that, even though he wasn't sure he still had them, it was probably better than the pain of what he could only assure were his many broken bones. He could hear muffled noise all around him and decided he must be in St Mungo's, he must have been knocked unconscious and pulled aside until the battle was over. Fred mentally cursed at himself for that. He longed desperately to be at least partially responsible for a victory and passing out for the whole ordeal would ensure that didn't happen. Realising the fuss that would be made once Mrs Weasley realised he was awake and alive made Fred sigh a little. He loved his mother dearly but could do without that particular show for a little while longer so he kept his eyes closed and feigned sleep. He strained his ears to listen more closely to the surrounding sounds. It was as if he were stood behind a thick wall of glass and could only make out familiar tones and voices, unable to discern actual sentences. Perhaps the blow from the wall had blown his hearing and the healers had been too busy to notice yet. Despite how muffled the sounds were, he could hear despair in them and could distinctly make out crying sounds in the hubbub. Perhaps the war hadn't been won after all. The thought shuddered through him like ice, they had to have won. The consequences of losing would be too much to bear. Fred took a deep breath in and braced himself for the madness, opening his eyes slowly.

The brightness hit him like a bludger to the face. He hadn't expected it to be so dazzling and squinted suddenly to prepare for the pain but the pain never came. Confused, he relaxed his eyes again, sitting up. The bright light remained around him, preventing him from seeing further than his face and he looked towards its source. For a moment, there was nothing but then a shape fell over it, the silhouette of a man. He stepped over Fred, obscuring the light with his face and it was then Fred realised he must still be dreaming.

The man looking kindly down towards him was none other than Sirius Black.

 **A.N** I know this is very short, but thank you for reading! This story will quickly become more Fremione based, don't you worry, I just wanted to set a bit of groundwork first. Please let me know what you think in a review! Love Mori x


	2. Chapter Two: Familiar Faces

_**A.N.**_ _Thank you so much for your reviews! Most updates won't be this fast as I have exams right now but I will try and get chapters out quickly._ _I'm not going to lie, this would be much easier to write if I could stop almost crying every time I look up Fred to fact check…_

 _ **[Disclaimer, I do not own anything, it all belongs to J.K Rowling]**_

 **Chapter Two: Familiar Faces**

He looked a little different to the Sirius Fred knew, he looked younger, not much older than Fred himself and his face seemed to have regained of the youthfulness Azkaban had stolen from him.

"Fred?" the young Sirius asked, "How are you feeling?"

Still a little bemused by the situation Fred nodded and made a noncommittal sound acknowledging the question without really answering. He had never dreamed about Sirius before.

"Can you speak?" Sirius prompted him again.

"Um…uh…yeah, yeah I guess I can." Fred spoke shakily, the words felt odd in his mouth, like they didn't quite belong to him. "Where are we? Why can't I see anything? Why are-"

The questions came spilling out of his mouth and Sirius cut across him quickly.

"All in good time, my boy, I want to make sure this isn't too much of a shock for you. I need you to take your time to understand this. What is the last thing you remember?"

"Well… it was Hogwarts…we were under attack…and a curse hit the wall near me I think. That's everything, it goes blank pretty quickly from there." he paused a little before adding nervously, "Sirius, am I in the hospital? Is this a coma dream or something? How am I talking to you?"  
It was as if a shadow fell over the other wizard's face, darkening his already somber features.

"Not quite, Fred." He closed his eyes for a moment and Fred knew the man hadn't finished so remained tensely silent. Sirius' brown eyes fell on Fred's once more with a look of deep regret. "You're dead, Fred. You died when that wall hit you. It happened so quickly that nothing could be done. I'm sorry, Fred."

Fred didn't react. He sat there still, expression unchanged. His outward appearance however was at odds to the storm that had erupted in his mind. Dead? He couldn't be dead. He couldn't, who would be there for George? They were two halves of the same whole, he couldn't even imagine his life without his brother. And what about Molly? It was too painful to even think of the grief she would be feeling. It couldn't be true, this was just a nasty dream, that was all. It was just a dream.

The pressure of a hand on his shoulder sparked him out of his trance and he whipped his head around to where Sirius was now sat, long legs stretched out in front of him.

"I can't be dead, Sirius. It's just not true, I wouldn't be able to talk, I wouldn't be able to do this!" he mimed pulling the thumb off his hand to illustrate his point but the gesture didn't come across as jovial as he had hoped when accompanied by the desperate crack in his voice.

Sirius said nothing but ran his hand loosely through his hair, as if waiting for Fred to speak again. When Fred remained silent he sat up a little straighter and scanned his surroundings. It seemed that he was looking at specific objects, however, the surroundings remained bright and empty to Fred.

"Did we lose? Is that what this is, we lost and now You-Know-Who has trapped us all in our minds or something so we think we're mental?"

"No, you didn't lose, the war is won Fred, Harry got him."

"That's just what an evil mind hallucination would want me to think to keep me trapped here."

Sirius chuckled despite himself. "I'm serious though, Fred, my boy. As much as I would love to be saying otherwise, the wall killed you."

Fred swallowed hard and ran both hands through his red hair, it was impossible, completely impossible. For the first time, he noticed the clothes he was wearing and saw he was dressed his favourite jeans and the t-shirt Hermione had bought him for his nineteenth birthday the year before. It did not escape his notice that these were not the same clothes he had worn for the battle. He stood slowly and cautiously, still surrounded by the white brightness. Sirius rose too, matching Fred and moving to stand within his eyeline.

"Okay," Fred began as he and Sirius drew level, "Let's say I am dead. Where am I now? Why can't I see anything but you? Do I live here now, in this emptiness, just the two of us?"

He tripped over the word 'dead' but managed to continue. As unsure as he was feeling, he still needed answers, and panicking would not get them.

"No, my boy, you're not stuck with me, don't you worry. I'm here to break the bad news really, I'm actually getting quite a lot of practice after today's events. You're taking it a little better than Lupin I must say, when he saw me-"

"Lupin's dead?" Fred interrupted quickly as his mind began to race. If he and Lupin were dead then who was to say there wasn't many more of his friends amongst the casualties.

"Lupin's dead. Many others, you will have time for all that Fred, right now we need to focus on you. I'm about to show you something and I need to know you are ready for it. Are you ready, Fred, do you feel okay?"

He didn't quite know the answer to that and still wasn't entirely sure this wasn't all in his head. He pulled absently at the hem of his shirt and nodded anyway, "I feel okay I guess, confused but okay. What do you need to show me?"

Sirius considered the boy with his eyebrows furrowed before grabbing him gently by the shoulders and looking directly into his eyes, "I'm going to show you where we are. It's going to be hard, my boy, very hard but it is something that must be done"

"Well, where are we?"

"It's better just to show you but it will be upsetting, Fred. There is no gentle way to see this. You're ready?"

Sirius looked intensely into his eyes once more and upon Fred's nod he slowly released his arms and stepped back. As he did this, the brightness of their surroundings faded and morphed to colour and shapes which in turn quickly blurred into people and the familiar walls of the Great Hall came into view.

The place was a jumble of people, some weeping, some laughing, most bleeding. Mediwitches rushed from person to person, tending wounds, and students clung to each other for support. Some sections of the wall had crumbled and pictures were hanging from one corner whilst their inhabitants clung on, calling for help. Fred, however, did not notice any of this. The only thing in the room that held his attention was the single stretcher immediately in front of him.

He fell to his knees beside it, reaching out towards the face of the wizard lying still on top of it. He was used to seeing his own face away from a mirror, reflected in his twin's, but this was different. There was something very unnerving about looking down and seeing your own cold blank face. Fred knew for sure from that moment. Fred Weasley was dead.


	3. Chapter Three:It's Those We Leave Behind

_**A.N.**_ _And here it is, one of the hardest chapters I have ever had to write, ignore me, I'm the mess in the corner crying. Why do I do this to myself… Enjoy! Also, please leave reviews so that I find more excuses to abandon my revision and write! Love, Mori x_

 _ **[Disclaimer, I do not own anything, it all belongs to J.K Rowling]**_

 **Chapter Three: It's Those We Leave Behind.**

Fred touched the bridge of his long, cold nose tentatively, as if afraid that his body would suddenly open its eyes and grab him, but the body remained immobile. Next, he ran his hands along the cuts and scrapes that marred his face. He was reaching up towards the hair when suddenly someone threw themselves over the body, cutting him off. The screams and tears hit him at once, breaking through the muffled sound barrier and with a jolt he realised they were coming from his mother who had been the one to throw herself over his lifeless form.

He stepped back quickly, tears stinging his eyes as he heard her wailing "my boy, my beautiful boy," over and over again. Molly had been followed into the room by his dad and siblings, all of whom looked gaunt and empty. They followed Arthur in like lost ducklings, moving as if they could put no conscious thought into normal functions. The whole scene appeared to be unfolding in slow motion and Fred looked at his family members in turn.

His brothers, Percy and Bill, stood stoic but broken. He thought back to all the times they had teased him when he was younger, locking him and George in the cupboard until they promised to stop hiding Whizzbangers in their sock draws, he was their baby brother after all.

Ginny, who always looked so strong to him seemed small and fragile, he wanted to put his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay but he knew she wouldn't feel him there.

The tears threatened to spill again at this. He couldn't cry, what would he be crying for? Mourning his own passing? But he was still here, still present and talking.

His eyes fell on George and he cracked, hot tears began to spill down his cheeks and guttural sobs welled up from his chest, matching those emitting from his twin. He couldn't imagine what it would be like had the situation been reversed, the thought of living without his other half filled him with so much dread and emotion that he couldn't hold it back anymore. He rushed forward to catch George as he stumbled forwards sobbing but George just fell right through him and collapsed into his father's arms. Arthur's eyes were red and his mouth was set in a firm line as he held onto the boy. In that moment, it was as if George was once more a child, clinging to his father and seeming the smaller of the two despite his distinct height advantage.

Fred looked from face to face, unsure what he should do, he wanted to reach out to them all in turn and tell them it would all be okay. He became aware that there were people missing from the scene and swiveled towards Sirius suddenly.

"Hermione, Ron, Harry, everyone, where are they? Did they survive?" He held his breath, waiting for the answer he dreaded to come from the young man's mouth.

Thankfully, Sirius nodded quickly, "They're fine, they will be along soon enough."

Fred turned back to his family and moved to place his hand on his mother's shoulder, it cut through him that he couldn't feel anything beneath his fingertips but he held his hand to her anyway. She was the strongest person he had ever met, the least he could do was to be strong for her now. He was just beginning to adjust to the scene when a cry rang out from the doors of the hall, lifting his eyes he saw that it had come from Ron.

Ron ran through the groups of students and mediwitches that stood between them, ignoring everyone he passed and fell to his knees in front of the body. His wails were loud and incoherent as he grasped the front of Fred's jacket listlessly and George and his mother moved to clutch him in their arms. His little brother looked a mess, dirt and blood plastered his face and clothes whilst his usually bright hair was ash grey in places from dust.

In an instant, he was distracted from Ron when he saw who had come into the room behind him. Hermione had moved in so slowly that it was unsurprising that no one had seen her approach. She seemed to be in a trance of sorts, unable to tear her eyes from the stretcher, face slack and absent of emotion.

His heart dropped out the bottom of his chest and his legs felt like they had been hit with a leg-locker curse but he forced himself over to where she stood. Her eyes were fixed on his cold face and she wasn't breathing, wand hanging loosely from her hand as shocked tears filled her eyes. He slowly brought his heavy hand up towards her face, brushing his fingertips across her temple and cradling her cheek. He rested his forehead on hers and she felt like a statue underneath him. Closing his eyes, he exhaled slowly and let silent tears run down his long nose and fall towards the floor.

"So, it's true then? Lupin mentioned something of the sort but I couldn't picture it myself"

The words pulled Fred from his stillness and he drew straight, lifting his head from Hermione's whilst keeping his hand caressing her face slowly. He was quiet for a second but spoke without turning his face to Sirius.

"It's true. I loved her."

He felt Sirius' hand on his shoulder, squeezing it confidently.

Ron stood from the body and walked to stand beside Hermione and she shifted. Fred's gaze moved along Hermione's arm to where her hand clutched his little brothers and he slipped his hand from her cheek. None of his family had noticed anything unusual about Hermione's reaction, of course she was going to be upset at the death of her friend, but each was so consumed in their own grief that they didn't notice her hand move to clutch the charm hanging from her necklace as tears rolled down her cheeks.

He had given it to her only recently, right before the wedding. He had caught her in her room, packing that bag of hers, he wouldn't have thought anything of it if it wasn't for the guilt that flooded her face when she saw him. His smile, that had been ever present in her company, faltered and he had moved quickly to her side.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" He had tried to remain calm but knew his voice must have betrayed him as she looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

"You know I have to go, Fred. Harry's the only real hope of this war ever ending, I have to do what I can. I have to be brave for him."

"I know" He had sighed, "I just wish you didn't have to be. I've got half a mind to hit you and Georgie with a sticking charm so that you never leave my side."

With that he pulled her close, savouring the warmth of her body against his and the comforting scent of her hair. She stayed silent and nuzzled closer into his chest, clutching the front of his jacket.

"I have something for you, I was going to give it to you for the wedding but if you're packing now I want to make sure you have it before you leave."

He pulled back and turned his head so that she wouldn't notice the water gathering in his eyes, reaching into the pocket of his jacket he pulled out a small, plain, ivory box and held it out to her. She held the box gently in her hands and looked at it.

"What is this for?"

He smiled and raised his wand, waving it over the box's surface. The lid of the box rose and dusty blue tissue paper opened out to reveal what it contained. Hermione gasped as a small silver necklace rose from the box in front of her and she reached to touch the charm.

"Fred, this is beautiful! How did you find this?"

He grinned at her and shuffled his feet, "I made it."

Her mouth dropped and she stared at him "You made it?"

"I did! Don't seem so surprised, woman, I'm a man of many talents. Its charmed, whenever I think of you it will tingle. I've got one that matches, it's much more rugged and manly of course." He laughed and pulled the neck of his t-shirt down to reveal a similar charm hanging from a leather strap around his neck.

She laughed at him and playfully hit his arm, "Fred this is beautiful, I can't believe you made this."

Fred took the necklace out of the air and gestured towards her, she turned and moved her hair so that he could fixed the necklace to her. He turned her and tilted her face to his, placing his lips carefully over hers in the lightest of kisses.

"I'm going to miss you"

Hermione reached up to hold the small curled otter handing from Fred's neck before touching the matching one on hers.

"I'll miss you more, Weasley." She pulled him in for one more kiss, more passionate than the previous one. "But I'm not going yet. Come on, you came to get me for tea, right?"

She moved past him, turning in the doorway to look back at him.

"You do pretty well at this boyfriend thing you know."

And with that she whipped around and strode out of the room. Fred laughed to himself and followed behind her, closing the door behind him. He was acutely aware of the tingling he could feel against his chest.

He hoped she could feel hers tingling now.


	4. Chapter Four: Earache

_**[Disclaimer, I do not own anything, it all belongs to J.K Rowling]**_

 **Chapter Four: Earache**

"How long for?"

Sirius' voice pulled Fred back from his thoughts and he turned towards him. The man's face was kind, brow furrowed slightly as he waited for Fred to speak.

"We haven't been together very long, I think I had liked her for a while though, I just never admitted it to myself. The order went to pick Harry up and we all took Polyjuice potion to look like him and fool the death eaters, the night George lost his ear, that was when I first realised."

He began to tell Sirius of that evening at the burrow, how he had stayed beside George, refusing to even move from the armchair next to him as slowly everyone began to head to bed. He doubted many would sleep soundly, everyone was too on edge having just lost Moody, but they all made an effort to go through with the charade of normality, staying strong for each other. Molly had been the last to leave their side, tears in her eyes. Fred doubted she ever would have left them if his dad hadn't come to take her to bed, telling her that she needed rest. She had moved forwards and planted strong kisses on the forehead of each of her boys before leaving with one final glance.

"Freddie, I've got a very important favour to ask of you" George sighed as the door shut behind their mother.

"You do?"

"Yes." George leant forward a little, wincing slightly, and stared intently into Fred's eyes. "Can I chop your ear off?"

Fred's eyes went wide, "No! Obviously not Georgie, I mean, I'm here for you in solidarity and all that but if you think I love you enough to do that you're seriously mistaken." He winked and laughed.

"But Fred-" George gasped in mock horror, "now people will _always_ be able to tell us apart. No more 'he's Fred, no I'm Fred', no more Gred and Forge!"

Fred sighed, he hadn't thought of that. "It's a shame Georgie, yes, but not a chance am I cutting mine off too. Hey, I might be the better beater now, your balance might be off!"

George threw a cushion at the other boy's face. "Why do you have to be so… Ear-itating."

There was silence as George bit his tongue and nodded, grinning at Fred waiting for his reaction. Fred stared at George with a look of severe disapproval.

"George, these are getting worse! That was so much worse than the saintly one"

"I'm sure I can find one to your taste, my dear brother, if you could only…Lend me your ear."

"I'm fairly sure I can beat you at this game, brother, I am after all the fun-ear one of the pair"

"Bring it on Freddie, I'm all ears. Well, half ears, but I'll give it my best!"

The boys continued for hours, bouncing jokes back and forth, laughing and groaning in near equal parts, almost forgetting about the events of the evening and relaxing more than they had in a while. Eventually George grew tired and his blinks got longer, he was stretched comfortably on the battered old sofa, covered in a worn crocheted blanket.

"D-ear-y me, Freddie, I think we might have to call this a draw."

Fred chuckled under his breath and looked at his brother, near asleep on the sofa, and felt for not the first time that night a wave of relief that the boy was okay. "Good night, Georgie, I'll see you ear-ly in the morning"

George sighed out a laugh "Terrible." And drifted into sleep.

Fred knew sleep would be a long time off for himself, as relived as he was, strains of anxiety kept pulsing through his blood, he leaned forwards in his chair, covering his face with his hands. He wasn't sure quite how long he sat like that with his mind racing before a noise from the staircase attracted his attention, he looked over as the door to the living room carefully cracked open and a small, brunette head popped around the door.

"Hey there." Hermione said quietly, "Do you fancy a bit of company?"

Fred nodded as the girl moved into the room. Her unruly hair had been forced into two bobbles at the side of her head and she was wearing pyjama shorts and a plain grey t-shirt with bare feet. He noticed she held two mugs in her hands with small plumes of steam curling from them. She padded over to where he sat and pushed one of the mugs into his hands, taking a seat on the arm of the chair he was sat on. The armchair was large and comfortable, with wide soft arms and Hermione made use of this by leaning back into them, wrapping one of Mrs Weasley's throw blankets around her shoulders.

Fred looked into the mug he was clasping with both his hands. It was full of a warm, deep purple liquid that he recognised as Honeyduke's Wizochoc Hot Choc-a-Lot.

"I just thought you might be having trouble sleeping." Hermione said, nodding towards the cup.

"Thank you" He said and smiled up at her.

It struck him how beautiful she looked, sat there with him under the glow of the side lamp, and almost without meaning to he felt his hand reach out to touch hers, intertwining his fingers with hers slowly.

"It's just scary I guess," He began, "I could've lost him."

He glanced towards his brother who was peaceful as ever, snoring quietly with his mouth agape.

"But you didn't, Fred." Hermione said quietly, resting her drink by her side and stroking his hair from his face so that he turned towards her, "You didn't lose him, he's safe and here, you don't have to worry for now. Besides, you and George are perfectly capable of taking on a few death eaters, you took on Umbridge, Yaxley or Dolohov would be a piece of cake in comparison!"

He laughed with her and felt himself relax a little. He brought the mug up to his lips and took a long drink, it tasted good and sweet and he could feel himself relaxing a little more.

"Thank you for this, Hermione. How did you even know I would be awake?"

She blushed a little and looked down towards their intertwined fingers. "I didn't, I just kind of hoped. I wasn't having much luck getting to sleep myself, I couldn't stop thinking about you two, Moody and Harry. Everything just seems to be getting out of hand so fast. I keep thinking about when I got my Hogwarts letter, I was so excited to learn magic. I never would have guessed where we would end up. If I knew it would be like this would I still do it?"  
"Well, personally, I'm glad you did. The wizarding world without Hermione Granger? It doesn't even bode thinking about."

She smiled at him and they both drank in silence for a minute, only the sound of Georges snuffles to disturb them. She curled into the chair a little and Fred moved so that her legs fell over his and she turned to look into his face.

"Can I just…." She trailed, "Don't move."

He held still, curious, watching as she took the mug from his hand and placed them both on the table. She turned back to him and leant in slowly, her face getting closer to his.

"Hermione-"

She shushed him quietly, leaning in closer until her lips were just above his own. He moved suddenly and without meaning to, drawn forward uncontrollably until his lips were on hers and his hands moved around her, pulling her in close. She gasped a little in shock but responded quickly, deepening the kiss and edging one hand up and around the back of his neck.

His mind raced as the feelings flooded his body, he didn't want to let her go, wanted to stay like this forever. She pulled back and hid her face in his shoulder, still clutched close to him.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that, I'm sorry Fred."

"Sorry?" he lifted her head up and looked into her face, "What in Merlin are you sorry for?"

"For just kissing you, I didn't mean to just-"

He cut her off with a small kiss, light and quick. "Don't ever be sorry for that, Granger. If anything, I'm a little offended that you haven't done so before! Think of all the lost time we could have been kissing in!"

"Oh, shut up." she laughed and picked up her hot chocolate again, snuggling into his side as he grinned with his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm just saying, I'm surprised you've managed to resist me this long."

He began to play with her hair and hum to himself happily but it wasn't long until he began to feel a little lightheaded and disorientated, the room began to grow hazy and he brought one hand up to his forehead.

"Hermione, that was nice and all but I didn't expect you to have quite such an effect on me"

She frowned and suddenly her eyebrows shot up into her bushy hair and her eyes opened wide, mouth forming a tiny little 'o' shape.

'Oh, I forgot to say, I put some sleeping draught in –'

He didn't quite get to hear the end of that sentence before his head thumped to his knees and all went dark.

 _ **A.N.**_ _Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story! It's my first fanfiction and I have really been enjoying writing it. My exams finish soon and I will get a few more stories out I think, I'm currently working on a Post-War one shot so watch this space! Love, Mori x_


	5. Chapter Five: Best Laid Plans

_**A.N.**_ _I'm finally back to this book! I'm not sure how long this story will be, I already have the end written but if there are any flashbacks you guys would like to see then let me know and I will write a chapter on it. Special thank you to GredMoine Fan and akagranger, your reviews made me so happy! I hope you like my future chapters! Love, Mori x (P.S. sorry this is so short, serious writers block)_

 _ **[Disclaimer, I do not own anything, it all belongs to J.K Rowling]**_

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Best Laid Plans.**

Fred felt a fresh wave of silent tears sting his eyes and he turned to face Sirius.

"You mentioned Lupin, what did he say about it?"

"Nothing really, just that he suspected something had been going on. He said you seemed close."

"I thought as much, no one really knew about it." Fred sighed as his eyes closed wearily, "I think most people suspected, it's not like we hid it really, but there wasn't much time for people to notice. We never officially told anyone. I guess we felt like it might jinx it."

Truth be told, someone had known. The night Hermione had dosed Fred with sleeping draught he had awoken at around two in the morning with her still in his arms. The blanket she had been wrapped up in had migrated across his lap and her sleeping form was tucked up under his arm, head resting against his chest. In that moment, he had moved his eyes across to where his brother lay and realised he was also awake. The pair had made eye contact and George had winked at Fred. Fred grinned back at his brother and pulled Hermione closer, feeling her shift in her sleep, before allowing sleep to overwhelm him once more.

George had never brought it up after that but Fred would have been surprised if he hadn't worked it out himself. He must have noticed all the silent communication between the pair and it was impossible that he was oblivious to Fred sneaking out and back into their room at odd hours.

"Were you ever going to tell anyone?" Sirius' voice was hushed and gentle.

Fred looked down at his fingers and could see that he was trembling. He wasn't sure when he had begun but he couldn't seem to stop it. He moved his mouth to speak again but found that the air caught at the back of his throat and he gaped hopelessly at Sirius.

The young man stepped forward and pulled Fred firmly into an embrace, allowing the boy to tremble into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, my boy, truly. I wish this could be different."

Fred wept into the man's shoulder silently, shaking erratically as his hands clutched to the back of his jacket. He shuddered and pulled back, attempting to compose himself with little success.

"I thought we had forever to work it out, Sirius. All this time." He took a shaky breath and continued. "I never seriously considered that we wouldn't make it through, not seriously. We were going to come out once things had settled. We even talked about moving in together, I was going to start looking for somewhere near the seaside, I had all these plans and then, well you know…"

His voice tailed off and so Sirius finished the thought.

"The War."

Fred nodded emphatically as he turned back to Hermione who was still clutching her necklace.

"The War."

The necklace had given him so much hope during the times they had spent apart. Whilst she had been on the run with Harry there had been no safe way to talk to her and each night he lay in bed dreading the day that his necklace would not tingle. Thankfully that day had never come, yet the necklace served as a continuous reassurance that his Hermione was okay.

He watched as Hermione stepped towards the body apprehensively. She had let go of Ron's hand and moved to kneel next to Fred's cold, still form and slipped her fingers into his. He watched closely as she leant forward, kissing his forehead softly and couldn't help but smile as he saw her stroke the charm hanging around his neck. He may have been imagining it but he could have sworn he felt the echo of that kiss leaving its imprint on him.

* * *

 _ **A.N.**_ _Please leave your feedback and any suggestions you have for flashbacks! Also, if you haven't checked out my one-shot 'The Portrait' yet then please take a look and tell me what you think._


	6. Chapter Six: Goodbye

_**A.N. Warning**_ _This A.N. is longer than the chapter, whoops._

 _ **A.N.**_ _You all must hate me, I have not published in so long! But, I'm going to make it up to you, I promise. The sad news is, I hit a bit of writer's block with WWW so I have decided to conclude it here._ _Fear not if you gave me suggestions for flashbacks though as they will most likely feature in my (wait for it) … new book! The first chapter of 'That Weasley's Girl' will be published very soon! And now, another bit of news for all you romantics out there: Whilst I stand by this ending 100% (and as far as I'm concerned this is the ending), I am also a big softie and all your reviews really got to me so I did also write an alternate ending that I love. If this applies to you then my gift to you is that I will allow you to completely ignore this chapter and just go and read the other ending (or read both and tell me your favourite!). Okay, that's all from me, I hope you enjoyed this book and I really hope you enjoy TW'sG just as much. Love, Mori x_

* * *

 _ **[Disclaimer, I do not own anything, it all belongs to J.K Rowling]**_

 **Chapter Six: Goodbye.**

"She's going to be safe now, isn't she?" Fred spoke quietly, "They all are. He's finally gone."

Sirius nodded.

"And she will be happy, wont she? I need that to be a yes, Sirius, I need it."

"She'll be happy. Maybe not immediately happy but she's a strong girl, Fred. I'm not sure I've ever met stronger, excepting maybe your mother but she is a force to be reckoned with."

Despite himself, Fred chuckled. He looked at his mother and Hermione, side by side next to his body. He watched as his mother embraced Hermione and held her close whilst the pair wept. George moved to embrace them both, pulling Hermione to her feet and clutching her to his chest.

"Do you think…" Sirius selected his words slowly and with care, "Do you think you may be ready to say goodbye?"

Fred felt oddly calm and as he thought this over he found that he was ready. Ready to leave his life behind and move on. He found that very strange, not ten minutes ago he had been longing to return and be with his family again yet now he found that the colour was draining out of the picture before him by the second. He had started to feel less and less connected to his surroundings like he was merely watching from afar.

He turned slowly to Sirius and felt a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"You know what, I think I might be."

The older man smiled at him and Fred noticed a sparkle in his eyes.

"Come on then, my boy. Let's go"

Sirius looped his arm around Fred's shoulders and lead him towards a door that now stood in the fireplace below the large Hogwarts emblem. He wondered if it had always been there.

Fred turned once more to glance at his family, committing them firmly into his memory. His gaze lingered on where George and Hermione stood for a fraction longer than it had done elsewhere and he allowed himself to smile. They were safe, the war was over and those he loved were finally safe.

He allowed Sirius to pull him on, drawing him away from the scene behind him, leaving the walls of Hogwarts in their trail.

"Let's get a move on, shall we? I know for a fact that there's some marauders dying to meet you"

 _Fin._


End file.
